New Ads

Miller Brewing Co., which last month shook up its top management to reverse a slide in market share linked by many to flawed advertising, has launched new ads for Miller Genuine Draft, or MGD, its No. 2 brand. Miller, a subsidiary of Philip Morris Cos., said the new ads by Wieden & Kennedy of Portland, Ore. have the tagline, "Put a Keg in Your Hand."

Los Angeles mayoral candidates Linda Griego and Richard Katz began airing new TV ads Monday. Richard Riordan has two new commercials which start running today; Nate Holden's first ad begins appearing today as well. THE GRIEGO AD: Standing in front of a family planning clinic, Griego pledges to "make sure the Police Department stands with the women of Los Angeles to protect and defend our right to choose."

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Huffington began airing a new statewide television commercial Tuesday that criticizes Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein for claiming in another television ad that she is working hard to stop illegal immigration. * THE AD: It opens with a picture of a television set showing Feinstein speaking to the camera. A voice then says, "In her immigration ad, Dianne Feinstein comes off like 'The Terminator.'

The National Rifle Assn. ad discussed in "Targeting Fear" (Sept. 4) correctly reminds us of the reality of what occurred during the Los Angeles riots. It is appalling that a spokesperson for Handgun Control should be critical of any other organization for appealing to emotions or trying to exploit any type of situation. Handgun Control jumps at every opportunity to exploit any highly visible shooting incident into an excuse for more cumbersome, useless and unconstitutional gun control laws.

The race to fill a vacant House seat in New York’s 26th Congressional District heated up Tuesday as American Crossroads, the conservative group co-founded by Karl Rove, announced plans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising in the final two weeks of the campaign. The group has bought $350,000 worth of Web ads and TV spots that will run in the Buffalo and Rochester markets, said spokesman Jonathan Collegio. And more is likely, according to Democratic media trackers who say the group has reserved an additional $300,000 in air time.

Los Angeles mayoral candidates Linda Griego and Michael Woo on Wednesday began running new TV ads focusing on the candidates' pledges to create jobs and ban handguns. THE WOO AD: The 30-second spot opens with people on the street commenting about the state of the city. It shows Woo with his sleeves rolled up talking to workers in hard hats and, in another shot, talking to schoolchildren. A narrator says Woo is committed to "protecting our neighborhoods and getting deadly handguns off the street.

In a new radio ad that began airing last week, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron Unz suggests that qualified applicants to California's public universities are being turned away because of quota programs. * THE AD: A male voice says: "We're concerned parents. Our son had excellent grades in high school." A female voice continues: "But he was turned away by the state university. Why?" A third voice--Unz's--offers this answer: "The reason is affirmative action.